Budapest for Young Travellers

The Sziget festival put Hungary on the map for tens of thousands of teenagers. One of Europe's biggest and best music festivals it is understandably a big draw, but Budapest has plenty more to shout about, like some great modern, value for money hostels.

Budapest is a vibrant city with a constantly evolving nightlife, exciting design shops in which to discover unique and stylish items to take home and open, friendly young locals who generally all speak English and can hardly wait to meet your acquaintance and show off their city to travellers. There doesn't have to be any particular festival on to have a festival experience in Budapest – inner districts(5, 6 and especially 7) have developed into full time party zones. It all started a little more than ten years ago when Szimpla Kert first opened a bar in the courtyard of a derelict inner city apartment building, furnished with chairs rescued from skips in Kazinczy Street. Today Szimpla is a major tourist attraction. It also launched the ruin pub trend that has become a hallmark of Budapest with many followers like Kuplung, Ellátókert, Anker't, Élesztő, and singlehandedly revitalised a district that is now crowded with hundreds of cafes, bars, clubs and street food eateries. The latest axis of fun is Gozsdu, a series of interconnected courtyards filled with restaurants and wine bars that have left the ‘ruin' aesthetic far behind and aim for distinctive and edgy design instead.

It's worth exploring Budapest beyond Király Street and there are many interesting ways of doing it. Take an alternative walking tour and discover the secrets of the city, like hidden synagogues or the brothels of 19th century Budapest. Stretch your brain at one of the city's incredibly popular Escape Games. Rent a bike, rickshaw or a Segway and visit one of the thermal baths that will replenish your body and soul. Floating in a hot pool in a 500 year old bath house with your friends is an incomparable experience. And once you rested enough, you can continue to party right there in the pool: Cinetrip organises night-time parties every week at Széchenyi bath in the summer and Lukács in the winter. In summer, open-air lidos offer perfect opportunities to cool down, like Palatinus on Margit Island, one of the most beautiful in the world according to The Guardian.

According to 54,000 TripAdvisor users, Budapest is the best value for money city destination in the world in 2014. Being centrally located means it is in easy reach of anywhere in Europe by train, bus and several budget airlines. Once here, the accommodation options in central and stylish hostels are almost endless. According to customer feedback on Hostelworld.com, Budapest Bubble and Levander Circus Hostel are in the top ten in the small hostel category, and Wombats City Hostel Budapest is number one in the extra-large hostel category.